contact us
Get-in-Touch
We invite you to let us know if you have a Comment, Compliment,
or Complaint about New Charter.
There are many ways of getting in touch with us:
By
phone:
Our switchboard can place your call with any part of the Group:
Telephone
us on 0161 331 2000
Main fax number is 0161 331 2001
[
Reporting
repairs: Dial Freefone 0800 027 0828]
By
email:
We handle general queries
by e-mail at:
contact@newcharter.co.uk
By
Online contact form ['Get-in-Touch']:
Click here to launch this form.
Would
like to view our procedure on the screen? We have made it
available
in pdf format. Please click on the following link to access it.
This procedure contain information about
our customer care commitment, how to reach us, and the details
of our Complaints Procedure as well as the above contact form.
Download
it here [in pdf format]
Customer Complaints Procedure
If you have a concern or suggestion about a particular
service, you should write or speak to a member of staff or the service
manager. If there is a problem, we will try and sort it out straight
away.
If
I am not happy with the reply, what can I do?
We
would prefer that all of our services run smoothly all the time, but unfortunately
things do go wrong. We understand that there are times when you feel that we
have failed to offer you good service, or we make a decision that you are not
happy with. When this happens we are keen to hear of any complaints you may have.
We will investigate what has happened and advise you of the outcome.
We acknowledge that you play an important role in helping us to put things right
and by regularly monitoring your complaints we can identify where our service
fails you and how we can improve it.
We have tried to make it easy for you to make a formal complaint. You can use
our on-line Customer Contact Form or
you can visit one of our shops,
telephone, or send us a letter, e-mail or fax.
How
do I make a Formal Complaint?
There are three stages involved in making
a formal complaint as described below:
Stage
1:
The first step is to make a complaint using our on-line
Customer Contact Form. We expect to confirm that we have received your complaint
within five working days. Your complaint will be forwarded to the manager of
the service concerned.
We will send you a reply to your complaint within five working days or if your
complaint requires further investigation, we will send you a letter stating when
you can expect a fuller reply.
If your complaint concerns a Section Manager, then a member of the Complaints
Investigation Team will deal with it. These are people who will not have been
involved in the matter previously.
Stage
2:
If you are unhappy with the response you have received from Stage 1,
you can have your complaint considered again by a member of the Complaints Investigation
Team.
These are people who will not have been involved in the matter previously. If
a member of the Complaints Investigation Team has been involved at Stage 1, they
will not be involved in Stage 2.
To do this, you would need to contact the Customer Liaison Officer, by telephone
or in writing, within 28 days of the response to Stage 1.
You will be asked to state the reasons for wanting your complaint to be considered
again.
You may also meet with the Investigating Officer. You will receive an initial
response to your request within five working days of receipt, which will tell
you how your complaint will be investigated, how to arrange an interview with
the Investigating Officer, if necessary and when you can expect to receive a
detailed response to your complaint .
Stage
3:
In the event that you still do not feel your complaint has been resolved,
the matter can be referred to the Complaints Review Board. This comprises of
Senior Officers of New Charter, who will not previously have been involved in
the matter, a representative of the Board of Management and a member of New Charter
+ Tenants Federation.
You will need to write to the Business Improvement Officer, within 28 days of
the response to Stage 2, stating specific reasons for wanting your complaint
to be considered by the Complaints Review Board.
Prior to the hearing you will receive copies of the papers, which the Review
Board will consider. You can make any comments on the documents in advance of
the hearing, if you wish. You can contact the Business Improvement Officer to
do this.
The Review Board will consider your complaint at a hearing. You will be advised
of the date and time of the hearing and will be invited to bring a friend or
representative with you. The decision of the Review Board will be sent to you
within 5 working days of the hearing.
Additional
Information:
We may
need to handle complaints differently, following other procedures. This may happen,
for example, if you engage the services of a Solicitor or obtain legal advice,
which may result in legal action.
We will advise you as soon as possible if we are going to handle your complaint
differently.
Is
there anything else I can do?
We hope that in the vast majority of cases we will be
able to resolve your complaint. In the event that you remain unhappy
about the way in which your complaint has been resolved, you have the
right to refer your complaint to the Housing Ombudsman Service.
If you wish to make a complaint and think the Service can help
you, there are certain conditions you must meet first:
You must first make your complaint through the internal procedure
of the landlord, agent or park home, within the time limits they stipulate,
and not later than twelve months from the moment you become aware of
the problem.
That internal procedure must be completed before submitting the
complaint to the Ombudsman. The Service cannot deal with it unless the
landlord or agent is given a full opportunity to resolve the problem
directly. If you are having difficulties using the internal procedure
please let us know.
You have to submit the complaint to the Ombudsman as soon as
possible after completing the internal procedure, and not later than
twelve months afterwards.
Your complaint must be about something which the landlord or
agent has not yet resolved. The Ombudsman primarily deals with maladministration – that
is, with wrongdoing which affected you and which has not already been
addressed locally. The Ombudsman cannot punish landlords or agents, nor
can he ask them to do things if they have done nothing contrary to required
standards, or if they have already remedied any mistake for which they
were responsible.
The Ombudsman encourages a conciliatory approach to resolving
housing disputes. He will only investigate complaints when there is early
evidence of serious maladministration. Otherwise, he may recommend instead
the use of mediation or other alternative forms of dispute-resolution,
which he makes available at no extra cost.
Housing Ombudsman Service
81 Aldwych
LONDON
WC2B 4HN
Telephone No : 0845 712 5973
This is a right that you have at any stage of
the complaints procedure, although the Ombudsman may request that
you exhaust our complaints procedure before he becomes involved.
The Ombudsman is interested in how we have handled your complaint
in relation to our policies and procedures and will be looking to
see if we are guilty of mal-administration.
Independent
Advice You also have the legal right to enforce the terms
of your tenancy or leasehold agreement, through the Courts. If you
think we are not meeting our obligations, you should seek independent
advice from a Solicitor, the Citizens Advice Bureau, Law Centres
and Housing Aid and Advice Centres.
If you consult a solicitor, you may be charged for their services.